Right Here
by Oasis Blackmore
Summary: They always find a way to keep each other right here waiting.


**Current A/N: All of the author's notes except this one were written when I began the story and when I finished it. This one is being written now, an hour or two before I'm going to post this. I really do hope you like it.**

**A/N: I know I shouldn't be doing this since I need to focus on As Clear as Mud, but you can't ignore true inspiration when it hits you! Plus, I'm having a teensy bit of writer's block on what I should be focusing on. Don't hate me! **

**I'm doing this because I had this really weird thing happen to me yesterday---it still seems like today to me since it's nearly two in the morning right now. I was on the way to my grandparents' house because my family and I were going there to have a birthday dinner for my dad, and then, this song comes on, on the radio. Now, I'd heard it before and just listened to the song, but suddenly I started thinking of none other than Ron and Hermione. I swear, I was near tears! The words flowed perfectly into a story plot line. I was immediately inspired, and I couldn't stop thinking about it all through the evening. When we got home, I rushed to the family computer to find the song and its lyrics. So, here it is. A song-fic based on the song, "Right Here" by Staind. Hope you like it.**

Right Here

Ron silently fumed in his chair. All of the other students had gone up to bed but for him, Harry, and Hermione. Harry glanced in between his friends, who both had looks of anger plastered on their faces. He hated it when they rowed and couldn't stand it when the environment around them became entirely silent after each episode.

He took one last glance at Ron, hoping someone would say something. Silence remained. He sighed and closed the book he had been hopelessly trying to read in the midst of all the tension. "I'm off to bed," he announced, standing.

Ron took the announcement as an opportunity to voice his anger once again. "Well, Harry, I would go up with you, but seeing as _Hermione_ won't help me finish my charms essay, I probably won't be able to go to bed for another three hours."

Harry shook his head and continued up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

Hermione turned a page in her book, refusing to respond to Ron's comment. She seemed to be _trying_ to keep herself from responding. Finally, she broke and looked up at Ron who was scribbling angrily on his parchment. "If you had done the work beforehand, you might not be in such a pinch right now," she stated coolly.

"Well, it wouldn't have been any of your business if _Harry_ had let me use his essay, but you just _had_ to confiscate it until tomorrow," Ron replied, glaring at Hermione.

"You wouldn't have needed to use either of our essays had you finished yours earlier."

"At least I didn't save all my homework for tonight," Ron grumbled, more to himself than Hermione. He looked back into his parchment.

Hermione shook her head. "Ronald, you really should try to get more than half of your homework done _before_ it becomes crucial. I'm also quite certain that it would be a lot easier if you had taken the notes in Charms. I swear, you're so thick sometimes. If you would just do what makes sense, maybe you wouldn't end up rushing to finish the smallest tasks."

Ron looked up from his essay slowly, narrowing his eyes. "You know, Hermione, I'm so _very_ sorry that we can't all be perfect, like you," he snapped.

_I know I've been mistaken  
But just give me a break and see the changes that I've made  
I've got some imperfections  
But how can you collect them all and throw them in my face  
_

Hermione glowered at him. "You haven't even gotten halfway there," she said standoffishly.

Ron wanted to leave Hermione in the common room that instant, but he knew had to finish his essay. He focused harder on putting words onto the parchment and blocked out any knowledge that Hermione was there. She had made it impossible for him to be able to leave. He had to finish all the homework he would have liked to copy before he could do anything of the sort, and due to her finicky need for order, that would take him all the longer. Besides, he couldn't have left her with the last word. Subconsciously, he was formulating a cruel comeback. The thought crossed his mind that she might leave before he had time to tell her off, but he assured himself that if she did, he would avenge himself in the morning.

_But you always find a way to keep me right here waiting  
You always find the words to say to keep me right here waiting  
And if you chose to walk away I'd still be right here waiting  
Searching for the things to say to keep you right here waiting  
_

"You're not as perfect as you think," Ron mumbled under his breath.

Hermione laughed skeptically. "Oh?"

"Do _you_ think you're perfect?" Ron asked, snickering in his own cynical way.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm a hell of a lot better than you," she said.

Ron felt himself cracking. "Oh yeah? Well, what about the time you missed Charms? _I_ never missed any classes, and you know what? If Harry and I hadn't woken you up, you wouldn't have realized that you had missed a class, and you probably wouldn't have made it to Divination after that."

Hermione snorted with dubious laughter. "You thought of that as an act of heroism?" she asked, "I could have done fine without you two rousting me. I can fend for myself perfectly well. I don't need help."

Ron was nearly fed up with Hermione's need to be faultless and sovereign. "Just because you don't think anyone cares doesn't mean you need to act like you don't want them to," he muttered, surprised at how what he had meant to say had come out.

_I hope you're not intending  
To be so condescending it's as much as I can take  
and you're so independent  
you just refuse to bend so I keep bending till I break_

Ron really wanted to leave at that moment, whether he had finished his homework or not, but the look of loathing that Hermione gave him paralyzed him instantly.

"I don't need this," Hermione said, as if she were going to leave, but Ron's ears had gone red, and she couldn't seem to move her legs, let alone walk angrily up a set of stairs. "People don't care, anyway," she murmured.

Ron faltered. He had been sure she was going to leave, knowing all too well that even if she had, he would have had to talk to her about the situation later. "I-I'm sure Harry cares," he said, not sure why he hadn't said that he cared.

_But you always find a way to keep me right here waiting  
You always find the words to say to keep me right here waiting  
And if you chose to walk away I'd still be right here waiting  
Searching for the things to say to keep you right here waiting_

Hermione nodded. "Certainly, he's the only one," she nearly whispered, feeling her eyes drift up to meet Ron's.

Suddenly, Ron couldn't help but remember one other person that might care about Hermione. He looked back at his essay, wielding his quill like a weapon against the evil parchment. "I'm sure _Vicky_ cares," he spat acrimoniously. Why did the thought of Viktor Krum always make him sick to his stomach? He had, after all, been his biggest fan, once upon a time. There had to have been a breaking point, a time when Viktor had become a sinister foe. He scanned his mind._ The_ _Yule Ball_ occurred to him suddenly, and Ron felt himself being bombarded by realization.

"His name is _Viktor_, and he's a mere pen pal. I doubt he knows or cares about what I go through each day," Hermione said, noting the tone in Ron's voice and becoming just as bitter.

Ron knew he was screwing things up for himself. Of course, seeing as he hadn't even _noticed_ his feelings before, he had never tried to make anything happen. His goals had changed rapidly with the dawning of a new issue. He suddenly wanted this so badly that he was prepared to do anything to get it. Why hadn't he seen it before? It was exactly what he had to have, _exactly_ what he had never thought he was missing.

_I've made a commitment  
I'm willing to bleed for you  
I needed fulfillment  
I found what I need in you_

"Hermione-"

"You know, Ron, you're such a prat sometimes. Viktor never did anything to you, yet you're always acting like he's _Malfoy_ or someone! And the way you acted at the Yule Ball; that was just too rich. I should have known you would do something as _stupid_ as claiming that Viktor _was_ the enemy or that _I_ was trying to go against Harry in the tournament! Off all the idiotic things I've heard in my life. You know, I had actually hoped that maybe we could get over the obvious tension that's between us and become something like real friends, but I suppose not because every day it's the same thing with you. You relive everything over and over again. It's not like I haven't heard, 'Get that cat away from me!' a _million_ times! And _then,_ you're always asking me to let you copy my essays or use my notes. Who do you think I am? You _know_ I don't let people use my information to do their homework! I'm fed up! If you can't get over yourself and treat me like I'm a human being too, then maybe I should get over my hopes that we could get along and sod off!" Hermione finished, standing up and heading toward the girls' dormitories.

Ron hopped up from the couch and sprinted to grab Hermione's arm before it went through the barrier that no boys could cross. "I'm sorry," he said, hoping that Hermione would come back into the common room.

_Why can't you just forgive me  
I don't want to relive all the mistakes I've made along the way  
But I always find a way to keep you right here waiting  
I always find the words to say to keep you right here waiting_

Hermione paused on the stairs and reluctantly turned to look at him. She shook Ron's hand off her arm and crossed it with the other impatiently. She waited for Ron to say something.

Ron turned red. "I know I've been wrong, and I know that you probably hate me, but the truth is: I care about you, probably more than Harry or anyone else. All this time, I never noticed how much you mean to me, but, now that I have, I realized that it's an awful lot."

Hermione stared at Ron in shock. She turned and looked up the staircase. "I really should be getting to bed," she said quietly.

It was Ron's turn to be surprised, but Hermione had already started up to the girls' dormitories.

Ron had half a mind to take his things up to bed and not finish any of his work, but he did nothing. He had just told Hermione that he fancied her, though not using those exact words. He stood there, contemplating what he would say the next morning. He wondered what he would do if Harry asked him why Hermione wouldn't even look at him. He turned as he heard someone coming back down the stairs, rather quickly at that.

Hermione emerged from the stairwell, tears in her eyes. "Ron!" she cried and flew into his arms.

Ron was stunned at first, but he returned the embrace, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she was saying that she fancied him too. Maybe she needed him as much as he needed her. Maybe, if he hadn't admitted his feelings, she wouldn't have been able to stay away from him, even though she was supposed to be sodding off. Maybe she had been waiting all this time for him to get over himself and admit that he cared about her.

_But you always find a way  
To keep me right here waiting  
You always find the words to say to keep me right here waiting  
And if I chose to walk away would you be right here waiting  
Searching for the things to say to keep me right here waiting_

**A/N: Did you like it? I have toexplain that all of the lyrics were meant to be from Ron's point of view except the very, very last one, the one right above this message. Wow . . . it's a quarter after four right now, four in the morning. This story is very exhilarating . . . It's pretty long too . . . and only one chapter . . . Interesting. It's too late to do any work on As Clear as Mud now, but I'll get around to it. I promise. Tomorrow will probably be the day. Please review.**


End file.
